Whitley Bay High School

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Foundation school in Monkseaton, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, England

55°02′53″N 1°27′57″W / 55.04809°N 1.46593°W / 55.04809; -1.46593InformationTypeFoundation schoolEstablished1935Local authorityNorth TynesideDepartment for Education URN108638 TablesOfstedReportsChair of GovernorsPaul MitchellHeadteacherSteve WilsonStaffapprox. 180GenderMixedAge13 to 18Enrolment1,602Colour(s)Blue and WhiteWebsitehttp://www.whitleybayhighschool.org

Whitley Bay High School is a mixed upper school and sixth form located in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, England.

Admissions

The school has 1600 pupils; more than 600 are in the sixth form. In 2006, the school was awarded Specialist College Status in Science & Humanities.

It is situated next to Monkseaton Drive (A1148), towards the north of Monkseaton. There is a subway for access under the main road. It is in the parish of St Peter, Monkseaton.

History

Grammar school

The school was originally built as a grammar school in 1963, and was originally known as Whitley Bay and Monkseaton Grammar School. The buildings were officially opened on 7 December 1963, by Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth. It was formerly housed in what is now the Marden Bridge Middle School. The original buildings on site were A Block, B Block and C Block.

Comprehensive

In 1973, it became a high school. In 1995, the biology class of Elizabeth Pollock featured in the Radio 4 programme Six of the Best, looking at how the human eye worked.

Buildings

It has four main buildings, with several other outlying blocks around them. They are:

A-Block: English, Modern Foreign Languages (French and German), Science (predominantly Chemistry), the school gym, canteen, main hall and various offices.
B-Block: Mathematics, Geography, Philosophy and Ethics, ICT and an additional sports hall (known as B-Block Hall).
C-Block: Childcare, Design and Technology, Media Studies, Food Technology, Healthcare, Science (predominantly Biology), learning support and Textiles.
D-Block (built 2003): Art, Drama, Music, Science (predominantly Physics), the School Library, a music recording studio and a drama studio.
E-Block (built 2008): Art and Textiles.
F-Block: Psychology.
G-Block: Business Studies and Economics.
H-Block: History and a Reprographics office.
I-Block: Physical education block for written work.
S-Block: Media.

Former pupils

Rudolf Abel, aka Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher – KGB spy, born in Benwell.
Alan Campbell – MP for Tynemouth, taught History at the school from 1980–9, and married a former pupil.
Frank Collins – SAS Soldier, first to enter the building in the Iranian Embassy Siege. Later ordained as a Church of England minister. Committed suicide in 1998 a year after the publication of his book 'Baptism of Fire'.
Graham Fenton – Footballer who formerly played for Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City.
Sam Fender – Musician and Brit Award Winner
Prof Sir Lawrence Freedman CBE, Professor of War Studies since 1982 at King's College London, and one of the inquirers of The Iraq Inquiry
John Thomas Young Gilroy – English artist and illustrator, best known for his advertising posters for Guinness, the Irish stout.
Alex Oates – Award-winning playwright and screenwriter.
Joyce Quin – Baroness Quin of Gateshead, former MP for Gateshead East, also former prisons minister and deputy agriculture minister.
Peter Ramage – professional footballer
Lucy Ratcliffe – model and Britain's Next Top Model, Cycle 1 winner.
Andrea Rea, aka Huffty – presenter of The Word (TV series).
Greg Rutherford, professional footballer
Michael Shanks – British archaeologist who taught Latin, Greek and Ancient History 1983–1988.
Steven Tupling – former Middlesbrough, Hartlepool United and Cardiff City player, formerly taught PE at the school.
Roger Uttley – former English rugby union player. Taught PE in the 1970s.
Dame Ethel Wormald, Labour councillor and Lord Mayor of Liverpool
Elliot Anderson - Premier League Footballer, played for the academy and now first team for Newcastle United